Criminal Procedure — certificates of innocence

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Criminal

Criminal Procedure — certificates of innocence

Although the court held the evidence insufficient to support a conviction, the defendant is not entitled to a certificate of innocence.

“The district court relied on the second clause, ruling that his acts ‘constituted no offense’. Yet if Pulungan acted with the necessary intent, and the Mark 4 is a defense article, he committed an offense. The district court treated our decision that he is entitled to an acquittal as equivalent to a decision that he did not commit a crime. Not at all. We held that it had not been proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Pulungan committed the crime. It remains entirely possible that the ‘scopes are defense articles, that Pulungan knew it, and that he also knew of the need for a license. His contention that the secrecy was attributable to a belief in a nonexistent arms embargo to Indonesia may be a tall tale. A conclusion that the prosecutor did not prove a charge beyond a reasonable doubt differs from a conclusion that the defendant is innocent in fact.”

Reversed and Remanded.

12-2595 Pulungan v. U.S.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Crabb, J., Easterbrook, J.